Most firms report sales boost after eCommerce platform switch

Commercetools has released a new report titled "State of eCommerce: Replatforming and Migration Trends for 2024," revealing key trends in the eCommerce sector. The report indicates that a significant number of businesses that have recently switched eCommerce platforms have experienced notable improvements in revenue and sales.

According to the report, 90% of businesses that migrated to a new eCommerce platform reported increases in revenue and sales, with 30% of respondents observing sales boosts of 30% or more. The study surveyed high-revenue businesses across retail, B2B manufacturing, and consumer packaged goods sectors, emphasising the urgent need for flexible, scalable, and innovative platforms to keep up with evolving market demands.

Among the businesses surveyed, 77% expressed a sense of urgency to migrate within the next year, predominantly driven by poor user experiences and limited scalability. Only 14% of businesses conveyed satisfaction with their current eCommerce platform. Meanwhile, 94% of businesses that recently migrated reported notable improvements in site performance, and 86% noted heightened levels of customisation.

Kelly Goetsch, Chief Strategy Officer at commercetools, remarked on the findings: "The number one buying trigger for eCommerce migrations is the need to create better user experiences, as this allows for differentiation and helps businesses compete. Failure to innovate can, and likely will, result in significant business repercussions." Goetsch further highlighted the drawbacks of monolithic eCommerce platforms, citing increased challenges due to their inflexibility and higher operating costs.

The report found that enhancing customer experience was a primary motivation for 41% of businesses that recently switched platforms. Other significant reasons included the need for greater customisation and flexibility (38%) and advanced features such as AI-driven recommendations and analytics (38%).

For those planning a migration, urgency remains high, with 77% targeting a transition within the next year. Respondents cited key frustrations with their existing platforms, including limited scalability (35%), delayed previous implementations (31%), subpar customer support (31%), poor user experience (31%), and a lack of advanced functionality (31%).

Additional insights from the report include that 90% of recent migrators experienced sales and revenue improvements, with 30% of respondents experiencing sales increases of 30% or more and 42% seeing revenue growth of 10% or more. 94% of respondents reported improvements in site performance, and 86% cited more customisation with their new platforms. Notably, 62% found their new platforms easier to use.

When assessing the success of a new eCommerce platform, businesses prioritised the platform's ability to enable competitive advantage (67%), total cost of ownership (56%), and customer satisfaction scores (56%). Satisfaction with the migration process was notably high, with 92% of recent migrators reporting satisfaction or high satisfaction.

Furthermore, 83% of respondents had a favourable perception of composable commerce. Data security and integrity were also areas of concern, with just over a third (36%) of potential migrators reporting this as a leading hurdle. Among those who had recently switched platforms, only 3% felt their data was not secure through the migration, indicating minimal issues with data vulnerabilities.